


On Every World

by kayura_sanada



Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon), Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Marriage, Outer Space, Peter is a Little Shit, So Is Rocket, Steve and Tony being cute, WAFF, pure happiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-11 01:17:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11138340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayura_sanada/pseuds/kayura_sanada
Summary: Steve and Tony make their marriage official galactically.





	On Every World

 “Here,” Peter said, and took the strange, long feathers out of Tony’s hands. The man tucked the feathers around Tony’s head, above and behind his ears, turning the black mass into a sensation of color. He bit his lip.

“And why, exactly, is this a thing here?”

“This planet is nothing but cliffs and ragged buttes that fall at least a mile or two down. Birds are considered most holy, able to travel freely between any crags. In marriage, you breach the gap that is just you and arrive in a new place, where there are two instead of one.”

“Oh.” Tony smiled softly. “That’s nice, actually.”

He could hear Peter rolling his eyes. “You are so far down the rabbit hole.”

Tony grinned outright. “You’re just jealous.”

“Everyone's a little jealous that Steve's taken, yes.” Peter seemed to have finished with the feathers, because he finally pulled away from the back of his head and moved over to the table. Tony feared so much as moving his head, even though he knew the bottoms of the feathers had a strange sticky substance from the planet that would dissolve nicely, Peter assured him, in warm water. (Cold water, apparently, would turn the substance into something worse than glue.) “Get up. This one’s about clothes.”

Tony raised a brow and stood, stripping off his pants as he did. Peter glanced down, grinned, and looked away. “Aren’t you supposed to be married?”

“Apparently it’s not official here yet,” he said, and smirked. “But I _am_ happily engaged, so I will thank you to look but not touch.”

“As if there’s something worth looking at,” Peter quipped, grabbing up some oddly neon blue clothes that had too much cloth around the shoulders and hips. Tony pulled off his shirt and tossed it on the table.

“You certainly seemed to enjoy the view.” He took the outfit from the man, looked it up and down, and finally frowned. “I could have sworn this was the top, but there aren’t enough holes.”

Peter grabbed a side of the cloth and lifted it up. Tony tilted his head and frowned. “There’s a flap over the face.”

“Steve’s has a flap over his arms. It’s a tradition that goes back to when the winds were much harsher on this planet, and many people fell over the sides of the cliffs. Homosexual marriages were made illegal, but marriage was still considered sacred. The man’s job was to choose a woman, not based on how she looked, but on who she was. A woman’s job was to choose a man, not on what she could take from him, but on who he was.”

“So, what? Steve’s the woman? You do know that’s not how gay sex works, right?” Still, Tony flipped the weird flap off and worked his way into the poofy cloak. “So when I see Steve, he’s gonna look armless?”

“Yes, thank you, Tony, I know how gay sex works.” Tony saw a blush on the man’s cheeks, though, so he knew he’d gotten to the man, anyway. “And yes, he’ll look armless, with a lumpy chest and waist. You’ll take the arm bindings off when you speak your vows, and he’ll take yours off when he speaks his.” The man took one look at Tony in the bright, bright blue and snorted. He bit his lip to keep from laughing outright. “That’s a lovely color on you.”

“Why, thank you.” He grinned and twirled, not forgetting to pull the flap up for full effect. It turned the world bright blue, but worked much in the same way as cloth on Earth, muting his eyesight little more than sunglasses would. “Do I look like an Andraxian?”

“Not even remotely. You’d need two flattened tails, purplish-black skin, and clawed hands and feet.”

Tony looked at his hands, then at the open ends of the cloak down at the bottom. “Clawed…? Ah. To hold on to the ground when it’s windy. Clever.” Even though it was simple evolution responsible, it was still amazing to hear. He hadn’t met any Andraxians – apparently they were extremely amorous, and even engaged members of the community were considered available. But once the wedding ceremony was over, Tony intended to find the nearest city and study _everything._

“Yeah. And by the way? You’re wearing the man’s outfit because Steve is hot, and everyone knows it. Straight men go gay for Steve. Lesbians give him a second look. Asexuals give him an appreciative twice-over. Loving Steve for more than his looks or that ridiculous mask of his is a big deal. And you are the one of the richest, most inventive, intelligent, generous idiots on Earth. Marrying you for more than your money and the gifts you can give to others is a big deal, too.”

Tony blinked. Blushed. Ducked his head. “Thanks, then. So that means they had a similar patriarchal system to our own, then?”

“Yeah, but that was probably because the men are tinier, more streamlined, so they were more likely to survive the winds if they were sent out for food.”

There were a few more things, of course. Obsidian, apparently once believed to be some hardened soul juice of the Andraxian’s ancestors or something, had to be wrapped around Tony’s neck, wrists, and ankles – the chains of tradition, Peter called them – and Tony had to step around in the dust of Andraxa for a while – the path forged from the past, apparently. The traditions were new and weird and ridiculous, and Tony loved every minute of it. From having to gently shake the feathers out so they flared behind the face-veil, to the cloak that poofed so far from his shoulders if felt like he was wearing a cape – the better to keep stable in the old winds, who knew? – to the upcoming walk to the ritual circle, where he and Steve would recite the old words of Andraxa’s bonding vows. He felt the ring on his left ring finger and shivered. It was ridiculous that this seemed to hold even more weight than his Terran marriage with Steve, but their marriage would, when completed here, be recognized not worldwide, but _throughout the galaxy._ What in the world could be more amazing – or more terrifying?

“There,” Peter said finally, and Tony sighed with relief. It made sense, in a way, to load down the two newlyweds, especially if the winds off these cliffs really were as bad as Peter insinuated – even though Tony wouldn’t have to deal with that, ever since the Andraxians had gained the technology to place shielding around areas. But his entire body felt about ready to slam to the ground. G forces pulled less than the amount of crap on him. He took a deep breath. The obsidian around his neck chafed against his Adam’s apple. Peter looked him up and down. His lips kept twitching. “You look…”

“Shut the hell up, Quill,” he said, smirking again. “So Steve goes out first, I head out ten seconds after, and I put my arms around him and lead him toward the dais?” Which made far more sense, now that he knew about the arm-flap thing.

“Yup. The rest is just the bonding vows, said in front of galactic witnesses and officials, yadda yadda yadda.” Peter finally had to cover his face entirely to keep from laughing. “Go ahead,” he said, shooing Tony on while his shoulders shook. But nothing could ruin this for Tony, and he stepped to the doorway to the room. One of the officials held up one large, red hand, then motioned with his two left hands toward the dais. Tony couldn’t see a response, but there must have been one, because a heartpounding number of seconds later, Tony was ushered forward.

Even arriving on this planet, taking in all the sights at once, Tony had been sheltered from the idea of coming out to this stage for this moment. Yes, the ground was as yellow-brown as he remembered. Yes, the wind, even through the shielding, hammered and banged around him, strong enough for him to duck his head as the mask over his face went wild, messing up the muted scenery he could make out through the gossamer haze. Yes, the dais still stood, dark black against the bright light of Andraxa’s blue star, now surrounded by friends and aliens alike. But the very idea of standing before all these races and officially declaring himself to Steve, and Steve to him… his palms broke into a sweat. His heart pounded thick. He saw Steve, hunched against the wind, unable to defend himself with his arms trapped inside his own bright blue cloak, and moved.

Steve was big, his shoulders so wide it strained even the larger-sized cloak made available for those like them, seeking a marriage recognized by the galaxy – “Galactic Vegas,” Tony had called it as they’d approached – and with his bulk, even the lessened wind forced him to lean forward or risk toppling over. Tony hurried to his side and pulled him close, let him use Tony’s chest and the light glowing faintly within to keep him steady. Steve leaned immediately into him, turning his open face into Tony’s neck. The wind persisted until they reached the dais, finally dying down enough for Steve to look back up from Tony’s cloak, blinking a bit to wet his eyes again. From the corner of his gaze, he caught Peter, Rocket, and Groot heading for their own seats, allowed to exit now that Steve and Tony had made it out.

“A good omen,” the woman standing before them said, spreading her spindly brown arms out, and thank everything for the translator chip the Guardians had given him and Steve. The alien woman's eyes, so large they seemed to sit on the edges of her thin face, blinked rapidly, non-stop. “The wind stopped in time for your arrival. You have faced hardships arriving here, but your destination will bring closure and peace. Step forward.”

Tony kept a single arm around Steve, ready to catch him if the wind returned, but otherwise straightened and stood forward. It felt strange to view the world from behind blue fabric, the cloak around his shoulders settling enough for him to realize it actually had, in fact, helped him maintain his balance as he’d walked. The hackles on his appendages were still heavy, but he was now grateful for them. He wondered how Steve felt, unable to grip anything. Tony wouldn’t be surprised if the man was hiding his shield under the bulk of the cloak.

Eventually, as the alien before them spoke about tradition, change, and growth, Tony relaxed into his role. Steve bumped shoulders with him, the most he could do with his hands inside his cloak. “And now, at the start of this new tale, the intended shall speak their vows.”

The man was supposed to come first, so Tony turned to Steve, reaching forward for the flaps as he did. “I know you for who you are. Your strengths. Your flaws. Your beauty. The ugliness within you.” He pulled the flaps free, only momentarily stymied by the clasps, different from the ones keeping the mask over his face and against his ears. “I see you, all of you, and I accept.”

Steve either didn’t have his shield under his cloak, after all, or he’d gently placed it down, because his arms were bare when he pulled them out of the open sleeves. Tony stared at those long, bare arms. Steve wasn’t wearing a shirt. Steve had gone without his shirt for this. His mouth went completely dry, then watered. Steve was half naked in front of the entire galaxy. In front of _him._

Steve reached up, his big fingers easily finding the clasps linking the face mask to the edges of his skin and around his ears. “I see you for who you are. Your strengths. Your flaws.” He removed one side of the mask, and for the first time, their eyes met. “Your beauty,” he said with a smile. “The ugliness within you.” Tony’s heart skipped, nearly smacking against the reactor. “I know you, all of you, and I accept.”

Tony shivered. Steve gently lowered the face mask, his lips lifted in a small smile. Tony couldn’t imagine what his face looked like, but it was contorted enough to get that ‘oh, you adorable thing’ look on Steve’s face.

“You have shown your devotion to the souls you have chosen. Give, and be given. Take, and be taken. The bond has been chosen and accepted. Now, in each other’s company, you may revel.”

Tony had to suck his lips into his mouth to keep from laughing at the word choice. Steve rolled his eyes, dipped his head in, and pecked a kiss on him, anyway. Their friends lit up with cheers. Tony laughed.

They faced their friends and waved. Applause rippled through the crowd – apparently weddings were causes for celebration all over the galaxy. Their friends stood, Rocket whistling obnoxiously as they rest clapped their hands and shouted. Tony put one hand on Steve’s shoulder. “Who knew our marriage could be even more official?”

Steve turned and grinned, and before he could say anything, they both distinctly made out the sound of Gamora, voice likely much louder than she meant it to be, as she leaned toward Quill and asked, “I thought Earth had its own customs? Why are they performing the Andraxian ritual?”

Tony watched at Rocket and Peter burst out laughing, their humor so harsh they had to hold their sides and gasp.

Steve made a considering noise. “Revenge later?” he asked, his voice properly quiet.

Tony grinned widely. “Oh, yeah.”


End file.
